first ladies, influence and image, continues. we will focus on lucy hayes, wife of president rutherford b. hayes. later at memorial ♪ >> it is so unfair to her. it is a dismissive, condescending title. it suggests she is smooth talking and her function in life was to not serve alcohol. lucy hayes is so much more. as was her husband. everything she accomplished in the white house was in spite of the fact her husband's legitimacy to be president was questioned. >> she was a charming person, very live -- delightful.

innovative. >> one of the more controversial questions is the white house china. an article says the art was absurd. who would want to eat a lovely meal and see a duck at the bottom of their plate? publictook a risk in affairs from an early age. that wereses important to her were veterans soldiers and or friends, children sewer made orphans as a result of the siddle -- children who were made orphans as a result of the civil war. >> she was a very devout mother. she does not neglect her children. .he embraces the life >> women's minds are as strong as man. in 1831, born, in ohio, she was the first first lady lady to have a college degree. that tells us much about the

time she lived in. a time where technological innovation and significant social forces usher in an era of the norm is change for the united states. good evening and welcome to c- span's continuing series on america's first ladies. tonight, you will learn about lucy webb hayes. is a firstrt us off ladies historian and author's of a collection of biographies. welcome. in 1876, the country is joyously 100thating the centennial of the declaration of independence and it is an election year. the election is greatly contested with no clear victor. tell us about the atmosphere with which it was at the white house. what was it like? >> we had just come out of the

centennial celebration. they were coming to the white house, but they do not know if they will move into the white house. the election is not yet decided. and happened is samuel rather be hayes were in one of the closest elections in the united states at that point. states that are so tight, the parties are tackling each other. the republicans said, we won. the democrats said, no, we one. they talked the next morning and find out the republicans are challenging the vote. if they actually win the three states, he gets the number of electoral votes he needs to become president. they go through all the negotiations back and forth. there is congress involved, trying to cut these deals.

literally, it is not decided until he arrives in washington, when the deal is finally set. thean only imagine schizophrenia, the fear, the disappointment, everything you feel. >> so worried were they about the possibility of a democratic coup that the inaugural day was a sunday. there was a private swearing-in at the white house. >> absolutely. absolutely. the country itself is still very unsettled. the civil war, even though it has been over for 12 years, it is very much in people's minds. it was such an intensely personal war. everybody had been affected by it. now you are trying to figure out how you will have construction for the hayes and

try to stay true to your principles. for the democrats, how can we hold the feet to the fire to give us back our land and customs. all of these got technological revolutions, the telephones just premiered. you have all of the new kinds of interest being done. you have a recession. the first major depression we have had. the country is trying to figure out what is going on just as much as the hayes are. >> so they come to the white house with a great deal of government experience. a three term government -- governor in ohio. to establish do their credibility when they get to washington? their personalities take

over. they begin to try to acknowledge the fact that the election is really controversial. he knows he has been called rutherford fraud hayes. they really set the tone for this. he makes overtures to the democrats. he opened the white house up. to try to engage in a public conversation and tackle the issues that tarnished the republican party. the corruption of the administration when he said there would be civil-service reform. when he really pledges to pull pull the remaining troops out of the south. assuming that the governors, the government in new orleans and columbia will honor their commitment. he is trying to extend and

knowledge -- i'll -- i'll of ranch to people. to people,anch saying, i hear you. help in thiscy effort? >> she understood how politics work and how to entertain. she understood how to facilitate conversation between people that were difficult. to reallytood how bring people at the table in a way that would advance her husband. she was charming and everybody loved her, despite the no alcohol. she was able to do things in a way that made him seem approachable and ethical and blunt. the first first lady

to have have a college degree, and this was a time of change for women. all kinds of new devices, being introduced to the home. early washing machines. women were beginning to take advantage of this by beginning to move into the workforce. is lucy hayes seen as a symbol for this? >> i do not think so. i think it is very easy to of thete the importance new labour saving devices and how many when it went into the workforce. women in workforce already have to work. the women who really entered the workforce by their own volition and interest really are the generation after her. when she comes to the white house, only five percent of women who work are working in what we would consider today white-collar jobs like

stenographers and secretaries and professors and educators. she is on the cusp of that. to me, the thing that is really interesting about her is how she is stuck in the middle in a way that does not make her stop. i know that sounds weird. movement is totally divided along the lines of race. lucy hayes is the first college educated first lady. stood with surgeons during the civil war. , mores seen more battles scars, more amputees, more suffering, than probably any first lady other than mail he -- mary todd lincoln. she is not an admin guard performer. she is trying to find her own

pigeonhole. >> on twitter, how did look upon lucy especially after julia grant's? >> that is tricky. they look at her as lovely, vivacious, happy, genuine, and then she does a gorgeous china and the press goes insane over about how difficult with a quailfood in the middle of your plate. they become an object of national interest. >> yes. the press really is taken with her.

they use the title, first lady, more for her than they had for anybody. they like her. they see her as five patients. they see her as somebody who is different. they really do follow her in her own light. >> throughout our program tonight, we will take you to the hayes home. you see a picture of it on your screen. this is the home where lucy and her family lived before the white house years. this library museum, they are the firstto show what lady and family were all about. we are taken inside the home to learn about lucy hayes as a political partner and about some of the clinical partners important to her throughout her. let's watch. >> this painting shows lucy

tending to a wounded soldier during the civil war. two causes important to her were veterans and soldiers and orphans, children who had been made or friends as a result of the civil war. the painting was created to hang in an orphanage is -- orphanage in ohio. it reflects the issues important to her. people associated with the causes come here to visit, they would sit here in this parlor. this was host to a number of civil war veterans. ,he unit rutherford served in the future president mckinley was a member of the 23rd, so his family was frequent guests here. when they would gather here on the ground, when they would come in, they would sit in this

parlor. lucy was a wonder for a -- wonderful hostess. this is where they would discuss the issues of the day. she hosted a number of political figures here for dinner, including future presidents taft and mckinley. as well as other local and national political figures. she is a partner with her husband. --ertaining and serving it at the role of hostess. >> joining us on our set, the director of the rutherford b. hayes presidential center, also open to the public. 24 years of his professional life was spent helping america preserve the history of the hayes presidency. allida black.

she was a partner to rutherford, i sounding board to him -- a sounding board to him. she was able to engage people one-on-one and to make anybody she talked with think they were the only person in the room and the only person she wanted to talk with. >> the election did not end after they were sworn in. there was a congressional inquiry. here is one quote where he said, sometimes i feel a little worried. this press and annoyance going on, i keep myself outwardly very --m ?hat do we learn of her >> she is defensive and has a

bit of anger in her. >> she sounds like a good politician in her own right, able to mask the inner. >> one of my favorite things about that is it shows her passion to hold it in. at the end of the civil war, she was furious and everyone started talking about an silly asian and forgiveness. onewas saying, mercy is thing but we have to have which justmercy, shows her. >> i like to invite each week the participants in the program. we will go to phone calls.

you can go to our facebook page. there is already discussion about lucy hayes. to illustrate what kind of a person she is, she had lifelong interest after helping her husband on the civil war front. tell us about old veterans in the white house. >> yes. an old 1812 soldier came to the white house to receive an honor. he is supposed to have his picture taken. when he arrives, his uniform came separately. the sergeantsght stripes were not on the uniform. lucy went and grabbed her sewing kit, sat down on the floor, so did on, and the british minister came in, saw the first lady of the united states sitting on the floor at the going on this gentleman's rank.

>> which is how we learned the story. he told it. it is important to us to move on for a bit. , today, we often see the expression or the nick name, lemonade lucy. as that at the time? >> not at all. itcannot find where appeared. it is one thing that has become about her. that isthe things interesting about lucy is that she supports temperance, but never really affiliates with the women's christian temperance union, which was founded in ohio, her home state, by people that lived within 2 hours drive from her. they always try to co-opt

her. she comes to this from her mother's father, her maternal grandfather, who is a member of the state legislator, who made her sign a pledge when she was young not to sign alcohol. that carried over with her. a followerer really of the temperance movement. >> what caused her to ban alcohol from the white house? did she ban alcohol from the white house? >> actually, no. her husband made the decision. it was a decision partly political. theanted to keep --ublicans within the party he also wanted to set the moral tone. alcohol was the drug of choice in those days. there were many families ruined. you heard about the sons of

-- toents who managed to ruin their lives with alcohol. hayes was never a prohibitionist and never thought you should outlaw alcohol. he thought the people running the prohibition party were political pranks who also outlawed dancing and cardplaying. people to learn by education. how popular was the movement in the united states? takes off at the end of the century. they come in right at the beginning of it. the reason it begins to take when it merges with the women's suffrage movement. at the time of hayes's first movement into the white house, only 23 states could control their own property. one of the big wobbles with alcohol was, if women work,

their wages legally belonged to their sons, husband, and they could not cash their own wages. they would take that and go in saloons >. --and spend their husband and spend their money on alcohol. >> the saloons gave you cheap here. -- cheap beer.ar what they are doing is organizing people, giving them a place to party, encouraging them to drink, and not having women's recourse over their own money. that is why it really takes off. it leads to prost tuition, bankruptcy, and venereal disease. was lobbied by the

movement to become the public's advocate to the cause. did she agree? >> she did not agree. she spoke to her husband and did not feel women should be she was not an. advocate of women's suffrage. came tosuffrage people the white house and she'd show them around, gave them a tour of the conservatory and the rooms. >> here is a quote that helps to illustrate that. she said it is a great mistake to suppose i desire to dictate my views -- to others. i do not use them myself but i have no thought of shunning those who think and act differently. ?hat do we learn from her >> she is a fabulous politician. not an absolutist or a more. what she has got its she has made her decision.

odatiois good and bad like her husband, she is in no way interested in thatwing everything and she is sticking to her own --ieves -- believes .elieves -- her own beliefs >> they wanted to memorialize the decision to serve alcohol in the white house. the first thing they wanted to do was build a fountain. not want mydo memorial to be a water fountain. i want to be in the hearts of people rather than on a piece of canvas and particularly the irony of it being a water fountain was certainly be galling. she was certainly not happy they were trying to raise the money to do this one dime at a time. she said, i think i am worth more than a dime.

>> we are showing it to you on screen so you can see how we have preserved lucy hayes. how different is that a few of her from the woman you came to know through your research. ? >> very different. the woman is an enigma. she is trying to figure out how to be her own person. she has been stereotyped in a way that mary todd lincoln had been stereotyped. currentnot show the agenda incredible guts she had. i just wish america understood. if i could tell them one thing about lucy hayes, it is that i find it stunningly haunting how much violence she saw up close during the war. in surgery and out.

ohio hospitals, but going to her husband caps, where her brother was a surgeon. she was in and out of the operating room. she did post operative care. she saw people without anesthetics suffering in her ways. , two of whomdiers were wounded and two of whom were significantly ill, missed their train to chicago, she opened her back parlor to her house so they could stay. it makes perfect sense to me that she had those stripes on. i would be convinced that is the least she owed that man >> on -- note about violence, >> there was a report a bullet

went through their parlor window in columbus before they came to the white house. there was no secret service. it came. it as their son buried a pistol and he was their only form of security. >> from springfield, missouri, you are on. are you there? go ahead. >> hi. i wanted to give a quick birthday shout out to my dad. he is a huge fan of the program. >> wonderful. >> i have a question. lucy become an early supporter of the republican party echo -- party? was an abolitionist right from the start. the republican party was the party of abolition. shewas and and buyer are --

was an admirer of john and his wife. she would be a republican right from the beginning. >> on the women's suffrage movement, and the famous name, , people came to the white house to see the president, and how did hayes react to her personal petition to be involved? >> they rejected it and they did not support women's suffrage. it had become an exceedingly controversial person in republican circles. she was very much opposed to the 15th amendment. it excluded women.

she had really campaigned against the principles the hayes dedicated their lives to, the basic principles of reconstruction. she was not well received at all. inwas lucy hayes interested any women's rights issues? >> yes. she was absolutely passionate about women's education and encourage young women to go to college, which was a radical thing to say during her time at the white house. she saw tempers and, to a certain extent, as a way to help women. are asking about women's wages, where women work, women's rights to join a union, women's rights to vote, which were the major political issues of the time, she did not associate with that.

>> different questions about the college degree. i will ask a couple of them all at once. first of all, on facebook, i am not sure if they had majors back then, but what did she study in college? other people want to know, where did she go to school? cincinnati, ohio. she got a degree in liberal arts. she studied rhetoric, composition, english, all the standard things. i do not think she studied political science. to what sheicable ended up being as first lady. she had to deliver speeches, which was probably good preparation for later in life. >> on facebook, anxious to know whether or not she rubbed her degree in the face of the elite

while in the white house? >> no. she was a good politician and knew how to carry on a conversation without being erudite. she did not give offense. >> next, scott, tennessee. what is your question? >> i do not have a question. i just want to say lucy hayes and rutherford, they are just great role models. i have enjoyed studying them. they were really moral people. i really admire them a lot. >> thanks very much. it seems sheter, might have been more popular than rutherford. is that true. ? >> there was a comment made saying, when the hayes traveledy

going along with them so no one would say anything bad about rutherford. perhaps she was more popular than he was. >> the next call comes from julie in venezuela. are you there? .> it has been great we are learning so much american history. it is just fantastic. >> do you have a question about this first lady? >> yes. are they the first power couple in washington? no, i would say the first power couple in washington were john and abigail adams. he first power couple in the presidency were martha and george. >> another call. delighted to have people watching in venezuela. lindsay is in pennsylvania. what is your question.

? have a question either, but i thought it might be fun for your viewers to know i am a relative. my made in middle name was burchard -- my made in middle my maiden name was burchard. theund out he had quite sense of humor and ended up riding a bicycle through the white house. i thought your viewers might get a kick out of knowing that. >> thank you so much. did he have a sense of humor? >> he did. it was a bit understated. he cut up apples at the dinner table and tossed the people at -- the pieces at the people at the table.

he could also tell a joke. lucy hayes gave birth to eight children, five of whom went to adulthood. >> we have more than 100 hayes descendents in our databases. we have four members of the family on our board of directors. we had a reunion a couple of years ago. a couple of the descendents came. entertaining at the white house, it was a dry white house but they used it a lot to entertain. talk about that. >> sure. the thing i thought was interesting about this was how steakayes would hate dinners but pulled them off. very vocal with people around them about that.

, with an easeo and a grace and an ability to put people at ease, really help open the white house up to people in a way that would be ,ery different from mary todd who would be charming but had an edge to her. kind and was able to talk at the level of the person who was with them. >> she was particularly good with old people and children. that came through to everyone. >> we are about to return. michael on twitter asked is it true the name was a german word for mere are? >> yes. the ground there is clay. water does not percolate in easily. water sits on the ground. it comes from the german word

for mere. >> what time in their life together did they move into the place? >> 1873 when they inherited the home from rutherford's uncle, who was his surrogate father, who was a lifelong bachelor. they improved the house twice. they added to it in 1880 when they came back after the presidency and 1889, the year that lucy died. >> how many square feet? >> 16,000 square feet. a huge house. seven bathrooms. -- is open was open to the public? >> the entire house. we just spent $1.5 million bringing the first floor of the home back to what it looked like during their time. vintage broke -- vintage photographs and creating a lot of the wallpapers and

furnishings. >> you are looking at some of the results on your screen. we will learn more. you have been hearing allusions to lucy's choice of the china for the white house. we will show it to you next. you decide. do you like it? >> we are lucky to have a number of items that belonged to us from lucy hayes at the white house. one of the more controversial collections is the white house china. it was controversial at the time. it remains controversial to this day, because of the pattern of the china. lucy was an outdoors person. she loved nature. when it was time for her to choose what the white house official china pattern was going to be, she wanted to do something with ferns. davis was chosen as the artist to work with her to create the china. they met out and were going to decide what would make a good

pattern. as the two of them talk, david suggested creating scenes that would highlight the united states. lucy thought that was wonderful and that is what they get. some of the patterns are beautiful. some of them are interesting. we have bleeding fish, ducks. people at the time did not feel this was appropriate formal china. even some of the journalists of the day wrote scathing articles of the china. one journalist said the art was absurd. another article was written that said, who would want to eat this lovely meal and finish up their meet and see a doc and a giant frog at the bottom of their and a giantuck frog at the bottom of their plate? lucy felt like this was a way to educate people from foreign countries who were not familiar with the united states, and this would be a way to show them what e uned states was

ke >> what do you think of the china? >> i actually like the china. they made many other copies of each of the items for sale to thegeneral public because company and france said they were losing their shirt on the whole project and wanted to make some revenues and that is what you see sitting on the side board there. were the press's reviews? >> scathing. the most polite language was absurd. i saw stuff that said grotesque. undignified. thought it was not fitting for the white house. >> and she continued to use it? >> yes. >> it was not delivered until months before they left the white house. foredy used the soup waits cigarette ashes.

-- the soup plates for cigarette ashes. -- we will spend a , but let's talk a little bit about how they got together in the first -- in the first place. how did the hayes meet? >> they first met when lucy was only 15 and rutherford was 24. they met at the sulfur springs at the ohio university in delaware, ohio. at that point, president hayes 'mother knew lucy and thought they would be a good match. thatas a bit too young at point. in 1850 when rutherford moved to cincinnati to start law practice down there, he met lucy again

when she was about to graduate from the wesley female college and that is when they struck up their relationship. a year and a half later, they were married in cincinnati. 40 years old at the time the civil war broke out. by thes the decision family for him to volunteer? >> he signed up for a three- year stunt, and she was very supportive of him. really serious discussion about him not going. it was always a question of going to preserve the union, and also because loosely had ,ome strong abolition feelings she was additionally supportive of the union. in the was hayes history civil war? >> he spent most of the civil

war in western virginia trying to keep most of the confederates moving from theater to theater. whenever he did get out of there, he was wounded five times, once badly, almost lost his left arm. in mckinley was also in the same unit, and then he turned into a tiger when he was on the battlefield, when he was a mild- mannered attorney, to being a warrior. >> the experts had to be -- exports had to become known. >> he was nominated to run to .ongress he said famously he would not campaign. a man who would leave his post should be scalped, he said. that was used on campaign posters when he ran for president in 1876. >> there is a dramatic story i would like to have either of you tell of his wounding. .ucy was back in ohio

what happened? >> it was a combination of errors. was given money to .end telegrams he turned out only to have money enough for two telegrams and he sent them to the men and not his wife. .he found out about it they arranged in advance to meet in the house here in washington dc. she hopped on a train with her brother-in-law, went to all kinds of places to find her husband. a man said he is back out in middletown, maryland, at the scene at the battle of the south mountain. hisbrother, who had fixed with him. two weeks

the painting you saw earlier in the segment depicted her administering to the troops .here >> one of the interesting stories about the train ride, the train was so crowded, she has got to stand up all the way. when she finally sits down, she is sitting next to a woman who is distraught and turns to her and says, she is trying to see her husband, who is in the hospital, before her husband bothbecause he has lost his legs. she is just praying she can get to see him before he dies. in just a return second. first, in rockland -- rockville, maryland, you are on the air. >> i was wondering what lucy's religiousas and how was she? >> thank you so much. an important question because

it colored a lot of the way they lived in the white house. >> lucy was a very devout methodist. , who served as her father, because he died when she was two years old, was a devout methodist. so, a very devout methodist. >> in this video, you learn more about lucy hayes as a wife and mother. >> lucy was very dedicated to her family. were extremely important to her. we know from diaries and theirs this was kind of gathering space. not only is this their bedroom, but this is where they spent a lot of family time together. the room is also very important as -- to louisiana as her mother -- as a mother, because

the babies were born in this bed. , one was never really a healthy child and when he was 18 months old, he actually contracted and passed away, something that was very hard on the family. >this is what she took with her when she was in camp with her husband during the civil war. he was an officer in the civil war. it was very important to her she be with him as often as was practical. when he was not out on campaign, she would travel with him. she often wrote she was very concerned about the welfare of the men at the regiment. she took this with her and she would do some sold in --

selling. she was a very good scene -- selling. sewing. she was a very good seamstress. they would write about these in the diary entries. they would have breakfast, then they would come in here and open the presents. they had very simple presence, not a lot of presence. this was the spate -- space they would do that. they had day to day activities with the family here. this watercolor painting of the president and lucy's bedroom at the white house. there was very vibrant blue collars here. here in their bedroom, the same color screw -- color scheme was here. colorw she liked the blue. we know that by this painting here.

when we were reupholstering some of the furniture here and tried to take it back to what it originally looks like, we found color swatches of the original fabric embedded within the pieces of furniture. the bedroom of their only daughter. her name was after the president's much beloved sister. this was a painting of her with her father. she was one of the only daughters. you can imagine a little girl growing up in a house like this with a lot of brothers. she had the furniture specially made for her. >> from that, i want to call up on a picture we found that is a lucycompelling picture of

hayes. where was the picture taken? >> it was taken in the conservatory of the white house. it shows lucy with her daughter, her son, and her daughter of theodore davis, who was the man who designed the white house china. every morning, she would send flowers off to the various .ospitals in washington dc, she was a very and asionate person, number of the flowers she sent word to peggy eaton, who we have heard about on previous occasions. when she died, lucy sent flowers off to her funeral. baltimore,ing us in maryland. >> hello. i am enjoying the program, as

always. my question involves a key intellectual. the collection of books. she not only enjoyed reading books, but collecting them. did she have any particular type of book or genre that she preferred? >> the hayes collected over 12,000 books, all of which are at the rutherford hayes library in ohio. she preferred fiction. she liked to read to the children. taste went more toward the heavier drama. they would sit around and read to each other from the latest book or dickens. about life ining the white house. an interesting just of the --

just of the -- juxtaposition, they preserved that and found some of the predecessors for mature -- furniture. they brought the typewriter, the plumbing in the white house, and what else did they do to the building echo >> i am not sure. >> -- noting? >> i am not sure. >> the carpets had holes in them. she strategically placed -- replaced the furniture. the ones on bottom were put up toward the top. she found pieces of furniture in the attic, got a few things reupholster, and went out and bought some pieces. once they finally got money, see put new carpets in the east room and reupholster pieces and added one more conservatory. class that is preferred --

preserving the white house history as it is. alexander graham bell comes and brings the telephone. did they install telephones in the white house? first inave the washington dc but it only went to the treasury department building. thrilled by-- so it she had singers sing loudly into the phone. one bass singer hit a particular note and exploded a piece within in the receiver of the phone. thomas edison also visited the arrived at and 11:00 at night because congress kept him there too long. rutherford was so impressed he got the ladies up at midnight. it took him an hour to get dressed again and they stayed up until 3:00 in the morning playing with the new recording device. >> right now in washington, the washington monument is being read constructed -- reconstructed.

lucy hayes was responsible for overseeing the completion of the washington monument. can you tell us a story about it? the money had been appropriated during the grant administration, but they did not get around to doing it. charge ofo was in public buildings in washington dc, was a very good friend of the hayes. withspent a lot of time him because he was also the man in charge of the white house china. she liked to take people on tours of things. withffed owl got caught up in the washington monument. when the owl caused it to shake, people thought it was an earthquake. at that point, it was only an owl.

we have told you the hayes marriage was a love match, and quite a partnership. while they were in the white house, they marked the 25th anniversary of their wedding and did so with a public ceremony. all of us would be envious of this. she wore her wedding dress after giving birth to age children. that is pretty impressive. lucy in rutherford renewed their wedding vows. was this genuine or a political move? >> it was genuine. it had to be let out quite a bit. it was the dress. she did not wear it for that long. >> ok. [laughter] this quote is from her. -- writes,

>> so what was her view of other first ladies? andhat shows her humility her feelings of inadequacy more than anything. the firstt a lot of ladies that went before her were .uite protective of people i think she was being hard on herself. you on yourn for scholarship. looking across ladies in this era, how does she compare? i think she made it through with less challenge and -- less tension.

she came in at probably the most trying time in our nations history. when mary todd is trying to deal with immediate horrors of war, and trying to make the white house the nations symbol, she tried to spend the nations money in a way where it really should be going toward fighting the war. aat lucy gives us is transition into the end of reconstruction. country really understands her strong abolition feeling. also see how graceful she .s i

she helps us move be tensions that julia grant had. i think lucy really makes it her own place in a way that is easier, if that makes sense. what do you think, tom? to get rid of a lot of the formality and to invite people to come in off the street who may not have felt like they could come in during administrations. >> it seems like the last four first ladies we have learned about found the white house in great disrepair. did things wear out more quickly back then? >> people also stole things. the claim that there was a gentleman that would go around with a bucket full of pieces of chandeliers to replace the

prisons went -- the curtains when they were stolen, the carpet, all sorts of things. >> you find yourself arrested today. >> things get dirty also. you can get clean, but you cannot get perfectly spotless. >> on the streets of washington dc, they were mud. 3000 people coming in on a public recession in the afternoon, you would tread a lot of mud. >> we have a terrific website. theave been working with white house historical association on this series and we have created a great website for this. there is a first ladies link easily accessible. all of the programs we have done so far are there. every week, we have a special feature. of the 25tha video

anniversary of the hayes. you will see the cameo created for that event. find our website and you will learn more about the history of the first ladies. aboute been talking about her image. we will return and learn more about her white house dresses. >> style and image was an important part of being first lady. whether they like it or not, people were discussing the ways first lady stressed trash -- dressed. the gown is what she wore for her official white house portrait. this down is called ashes of roses. she wore it for her oldest son's wedding. this was another gown she wore to her wedding, the wedding of her knees, which actually took ways in the white house.

lucy had her own style. journalists said, oh, she will change her hail -- hair. .he was very comfortable that is not to say she was not an elegant dresser. she was. this blue velvet gown is a perfect example of that. it is not ostentatious. is what she wore to a new year's recession which took place at the white house. this is the one that has the most sentimental value to lucy. she sewed it herself and it is her own wedding gown. >> on facebook, a question about lucy's personal style. in the styleparted

--today asked -- today echo today? >> she did not change her hairstyle. it is what she were her entire life. i think she was very comfortable with who she was. how to carryd herself well. i think her clothes reflected not the daring miss of the time, but the dignity of her position, mot in a way that made her see colorful and vibrant without being provocative. >> she was a mother of eight.

the tone was fairly conservative. it was something wholesome. > kaitlyn is watching us in springfield, missouri. kaitlyn is on? >> hi. question?vening, >> yeah. how did lucy cope with losing a youngchildren at such age. >> thanks very much. >> losing children was sort of a normal type of thing back then. loss ddest story was the of the first of their children, lucy and the children had gone visit rutherford in the field in west virginia. within a couple of days, their son died. gave his body to take back for burial and the rest of the camp. remained in rutherford said he never became attached to the child. it was hard on lucy.

she did grieve. she didn't have a whole lot of because she had to take compare of the other children and move on. is a call from bill in ohio. hi, bill. thanks for taking my call. speaker many, many times. did any descendents president hayes have living right now? i got it out several years ago. at a gathering. thank you. earlier.sn't listening >> we have more than 100 in the data base? any of them in politics? >> there aren't any in national levels. a mayor in california. republican. and a woman. >> we've been looking at quotes rom lucy, but let's show you a quote from rutherford hayes, the said ent about lucy, who

f her, i don't know how much mrs. hayes has with congress but she has great influence with me. the approach -- some of first ladies would sit in the congressional gallery, listen to try specifically to address individual members of congress to advance the president's plans. was she one of the first ladies? politics.yed out of puts out a statement that no one in the immediate family would have a paid position in the government to family members, jobs., from applying for and at different times, lucy web, whoite to her son, was a confidential secretary to his father saying could you try father on e your appointments? so lucy felt she was getting no rutherford. >> he did, in fact, the thought relatives was a president who

posted african-americans to post. about that? > rutherford hayes did appoint frederick douglas as the marshal d.c.e city of he was very aware that it was a part.ic gesture on his he had african-americans appointed to the positions in the south mainly. to havee also the first a black opera singer perform for in the white house and had on their k performers saturday performances in the white house. >> many people are interested in the causes. about the fact that he helped with the funds to finish the washington monument. interested in

mental health as well. the sanitation nd the treatment that we today considered to be shell shocked have.ers she would care a lot about you know, ension, when they got there, pensions were ally if they disabled. and wonderful records of when care for the people who were -- this is before she was really a first lady. would be in ohio, and there would be wounded paid rs who hadn't been and she would help to set up a ontime to expedite the delivery of their paychecks so in -- in terested orphans, in veterans affairs, education of the deaf. and in mental health. also, she was very involved

in the indigent population washington, d.c. >> yes, she did that without about it.ig fanfare she would give money to some of the employees of the white house out and give it to the poor. causes her one of her was the education of indians and blacks. virginia, the o hampton institute. and saw blacks and indians being there.r she paid for a scholarship for be the wife would of frederick douglas -- now i'm having a mind thing here. when the carlisle indian school was founded during the hayes administration. do with that.to >> rutherford hayes, as we earned, was announced from the beginning he would be a one-term

president. constant tussles with congress during his time in congress. here are some of the key events during his administration. so it's very importantly the end of reconstruction. 1878, the grand alison act of calls for the reception silver coinage. hayes vetoed it. congress passed the measure over in 1879, he vetoed the army appropriation bills of three versions. finally accepted and a rider was attached to the to repeal the force act. 1980, the u.s. china treaty banning the opium trade. history view the hayes administration? >> well, i think what hayes do was to at least not have the scandals that you ad during the grant administration. he managed to retrieve some of to the presidency

that had been lost in the johnson and the grant administrations. poi appointed his own cabinet. e made controversial appointments without congress' blessing. he brought the country -- when they did the travelling across the country, include the south and the west and new england. t the time, he felt that the nomination with james garfield and garfield's election was a been hat he could have elected had he chosen to run for a second term in office. he felt that the corner had been republican party swinging back. >> they travelled thousands of almost always together.

they were the first to go to the west coast during the term in office. >> was there something for the trouble. was. s, there >> two other things about the hayes administration that interested in e especially those who follow the machinations of the senate. of the things that hayes was really very successful was limiting the number of riders that could be attached change the on to intent of legislation. and the second thing that he did really began in an incremental way to put in a system to really appoint to where you assessed before qualifications you go to the job. periphery, d on the presidential ponderings with the support of black people, rita like diversity advocates of the era. if you agree with that or not. give a sense of what's

happening to black americans in as reconstruction was happening? were hayes really progressives. but they were ineffectual in really helping the south adhere to the law. and i say this as someone who born and raised in memphis, tennessee. mean hayes pulled the last troops out after securing their commitments and written commitments from the -- from the states that they would adhere to the civil rights that 14th and the 15th amendment african-americans. and when hayes pulls the troops the quality of-- the south imploeds. you have racial violence to the ku klux klan. skyrockets. 1877 and crystallized

deprived blacks of being able to own property. restrict voting rights. example, in mississippi, in -- and i think that it's in 1871, 96% of african-american vote in the state of mississippi with hayes and later, ruction ten years less than .5% of 1% of men can vote an ecause of the violence of intimidation, the grandfather's clause, the poll tax, and the test.acy so it's really two separate african-americans by frederick douglas in the really organize and secure or begin to secure while the south away.y has theirs stripped

>> mike is watching in honolulu. you're on. that push the button. go ahead, mike. go ahead. you hear me?n it's 4:10 here hawaii standard time. direct relative to my grandmother, of course. hayes.me is jessie she was born in about 1870. in the lower midwest. and she -- probably by blood removed. but i looked at this beautiful erect in the chair looking at the camera with those big eyes and a beautiful children looking at the camera. impressed. and obviously president hayes really scored when this woman married him. she's an educated woman. the time, i

presume that it's controversial having the first lady with a degree, let alone an abolitionist. wholet alone, a quiet woman loved her children and especially loved her husband whether he was president mayor or whatever. >> thank you. summary of lucy hayes for us all the way from today.u they said it was going to stay one term. left, how didthey they feel about leaving the white house? >> they were relieved to be but they said it was the best time of their lives to that point. they didn't want to wear out welcome. they had managed to do some of the things that they wanted to do. they were happy to hand it off to the -- to the garfields let them sit in the hot seat for a while. going to return to

cecil grove for another video. this is about the postwhite house years. tokens they a few received in appreciation. lucy was known for not serving white house.e some of the temperance groups that existed in the united tates at that time really admired her for taking that kind f stand and as she and rutherford were leaving the white house, there was a group of women, the twim's christian belonged to iation a presbytarian church in ottawa, illinois. give her a gift to thank her for making that kind of a stand. they sent ey did was a number of pages out to -- people in illinois and asked them to find the paper for mrs. hayes. all of the papers were returned, they bound them into that we utiful volumes have here. there are six of these. we have a couple of interesting here.ures in

one is from sarah polk. of signed it mrs. james polk polk place, nashville, davison county, tennessee. we have an autograph that's interesting. by samuel clemens by mark twain. is rote -- total excellence suchhi cannot be extreme.o too great an abstaining from total abstinence myself. something mark twain would say. the women's groups had these made for lucy. exquisitely embroidered. they're large. they were door curtains hang the house in the doorway and divided this room, the library parlor from the president's study.

post-white e their house years like. >> they weren't as long as they wanted them to be. they enjoyed having their family back together. they only had one child. at this point. so they still had two teenagers and then one son off to college nd the other wd cleveland. hoped to have grandchildren oming until at point they entertained people. ut the hayeses kept going with their causes. was involved.es the only organization she took a was the women's society. >> what did she do for them? > she was the president of the organization. kicking and screaming to the annual meeting this ke a short address

year. hat the missionary society was supposed to do was improve the home life for the poor, educate raise a family, basically. particularly blacks, indian, of the south. 44,000 members of the organization. >> she came in for comments. made comments that there were more immigrants coming in she the heathen nations as put it. countries.n european she said she do not respect toen and the chore of trying assimilate them into the united states would be tougher. but they would attempt to do so. so she got quite a bit of speech in ver that 1887. president's that the continued interest in the

couples after they leave the white house. phenomenon?w >> no, the church hounded mary todd. these salacious ouija boards and institutions. the hayeses brought america back war. way after the they're relatively scandal free they leave the white house. their devotion to each other is palpable. don't change when they're there. they don't change when they leave. o the country continues to be interested in them, and grateful, i think. >> why was she giving speeches immigration. what was happening to the country in terms of immigration? >> europe is imploding with the wave of revolutions.

you have new immigrants coming to the united states who are no longer english speaking and catholic. they're proportionately from or russian jews or from southern italy. so you have people from races, different education levels, different and different skills scare americans and one teddy roosevelt will. > i heard the one son was -- were ucated where all of the children college educated? do with their live

s? >> all of the boys went to college. their daughter fanny did not go which is rather strange considering the background of parents. was an attorney in toledo. he second son webb was the founder of union carbide and wealthy.uite he's the gentleman who started hayes presidential center which opened in 1916. rutherford, , became a real estate developer florida.carolina and and the fourth son, scott, worked for general electric out cincinnati and out of new york. additions they build after returning from the white house. did the hayeses have any pets. answer was boy, did

they? >> yes. they did. they answered the house in 1880. bed roochls, a large drawing room, a lrary. never saw the back addition to the home which had our more bedrooms and a large dining room. they had -- they had in the white house, they had a goat, a couple of dogs, the first sigh semicat in he united states was given to the ambassadorby from siam as they called it at that point. cat. was the name of the unfortunately died on a trip out west and was buried there at the white house. pictures of the hayeses they heir daughters once got to steeple grove. cows, pigeons, ducks. it. name it, she had >> just to follow up on your omments about healing, the purchase on facebook. was she as concerned about veterans of the south as she was veterans to the north?

>> yes, but in a different way. she wanted to make sure that they were -- she looked at that a way to reconcile, not as a really extend mercy on southerners. veterans to be -- were to be -- to have their healed, the pensions will on time and the country will get over the war and advance because negro rights. >> this is our final visit to this program. about lucy hayes' final years there. nurturing person. not only did she care about hildren and less fortunate members of society but she loved animals and loved being outside. returned here from the white house, it wasn't very long before she had a whole my image of animals here in spiegel

cows, chickens, cat, dogs. loves to have cats near her. loved pigeons so much, enough, she had holes drilled into the risers so hey have steps here so the finaling i don't knows have the place to roost. some of the last pictures before she's out in y, the yard, wearing one of rutherford's old beat up hats. she loved it so much. goes out and do the chores her, she wouldsit take them out to the chicken chickens.eed the this was important to her. when rutherford and lucy spiegel grove from the white house, this space was important to them. nucleus of the house hold. this is where the family spent the informal time. older. they have gchilen -- they

love it when grandchildren visit in spiegel grove. one of the items that was her was an in this room dvertisement features a very happy cherubic-looking baby. reminded her of hurt grandchild she hung the picture by her bed. is where the story ends. she was sitting in one of the room. in this she was working on needle point. she was watching her younger outside of y tennis the windows here. she suffered a massive stroke. the chair. over in the family rushed in, carried her to the bed here. she passed where away. fremont a cemetery in near spiegel grove. er children had her and rutherford reinterred in here the hey were buried on

grounds here of spiegel grove. >> how old was she? 57 when she died. a burial in spiegel grove. one of the great stories of her the procession went back behind the home and where the affected area the cows were assembled, they like soldiers and they gave her a salute and she left. to the t to go back photograph that we saw in the video of lucy hayes and the ostwhite house years with the pigeons. >> yes. they had the holes drilled in the steps outside of their windows. it must have been annoying or theaps they got up early in day. she fed them daily. he went out, milked the cows, gathered the eggs, churned the butter. >> did the president share her animal? >> he did not love them as much. as was n avid horseman,

she. >> how long did he live after her death? >> three more years beyond her death. >> how did he spend that time? >> still active with the ohio tate university, with prison reform. education of blacks and indians. of conferences. other than bermuda, only in the united states. active in the republican party? >> he stayed out of politics. past t felt that presidents should really stay out of active politics. did rejoice when republicans were elected and democratspleased when got elected. >> damian watching in new york city. damian. n, >> a fascinating show. known so much about haisz and his wife lucy. tremendous, r this tremendous show about both of them. 50 thank you. you know, i must say,

r.b. hayes was a unique guy. would only have ne term and swear to that was amazing. most important, his wife was so her college iven credential and the fact that hayes' you know ichb couple ben si, he was the first president to allow women to testify in front the supreme court. do you believe that his wife had much to do with that? that that believe helped craft his decision making around policy? much for the show. thank you. >> sure. anything ink that had to do with women testifying before the court. what about you? president hayes did sign the legislation that allowed women to practice before the supreme court. happens that the

bill was placed in front of him and he couldn't figure out a way not tie it in. pretty much it. >> anything more on the caller on the influence he might have had on his thinking? i don't think there was much. thingsreed on -- on most but she knew better than try to him hard on anything. >> it occurred much earlier when beginning to -- when he was practicing law in ohio she helped to change the abolitionists who he thought were extremists. >> don't know if you know the answer. was there a deal forged in the senate because of the election the senate and most importantly the southern hairz' end uld approve of

reconstruction? yes. the deal was hayes would remove the last of the southern troops -- i mean the last of the troops in the south. columbia.eans and in so pulled the last out of the army of the south. hayes did that. but he only did it after he xtracted pharmacists from both communities that they would, in fact, respect the 15th amendment, which they, of course, did not. >> watching in san diego, you're on? the tillman ck to election. quick question. but hoch tive she was of the controversy over the election with him getting the really ruter-fraud affect her as far as out in the public. did she have any comments in public regarding that? in public.comments she was disturbed by it. felt he would rd

ha b legitimately elected blacks had had the numbers they had in the previous elections. the work to show you roduced by the white house historical association. it is in a collection of the of the first lady. we're offering it at cost. go to the website, find out how to make it part of your personal book collection. how did you get interested in subject? >> i came into it through roosevelt. then i started going backwards forwards to figure out to which extent the husbands were involved. i was lucky enough to stay the white house historical association to redo the book. it's been a labor of love since '96. we look across the first ladies, kaitlyn asked the to end that we want with is what was -- what was

legacy as a asting first lady? >> she showed that you can be an excellent mother and supportive and gracious hostess and be regardless anybody of your social strata into the white house. she didn't bend to the whims of society. she didn't change her look. didn't change her style. shows that a woman can be a woman on her own. transformational or transitional? >> transitional. her at do you believe lasting legacy should be? to understand the courage it takes to hold that position. hat she brought her own memories and her own love of well as nto this as support and respect for her husband. >> thanks to alita